Erki Pehkstudied piano, choir and orchestra conducting at the Estonian Academy of Music in Tallinn where he graduated in 1993. He continued his studies in orchestra conducting in Riga at the Latvian Academy of Music. In 1997 he finalized his studies as a post-graduate student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. 17 years (1994 – 2011) he was engaged as a conductor at the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn conducting more that 700 performances of this company. He was also invited to teach conducting at the Tallinn Music College and he held this teaching position from 1992 till 1997. In 2000 he founded his own orchestra in Tallinn: the 21st Century Orchestra and he is the principal conductor of this ensemble that plays mostly contemporary but also classic repertoire from Estonian and international composers. Since 2001 Mr. Pehk is the Artistic Director of the renowned Klaudia Taev International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Pärnu (Estonia) and in 2005 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Pärnu International Opera Music Festival (PromFest). For artistic achievements with this festival and for the production of Thaïs by Massenet, Mr. Pehk was given the State Prize of Musical Theatre of Estonia 2010.